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1) Abraham
2) Possible Routes of Abraham and Moses
3) Moses
4)Ten Commandments
5) Kings Unite the Israelites- King David and
Solomon
6)Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, c.920 BC
7)Judaism and Monotheism
8) Moses and the Golden Calf
9)Hebrew Texts- The Torah, The Hebrew Bible, and
the Commentary : The Torah
10) Dead Sea Scrolls
 11)Destruction of the Second Temple
 12)Jewish Migration after AD 70
 13) A Passover Meal
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: Sometime between 2000 and 1500 BC a new people appeared in
Southwest Asia. They were the Hebrews (HEE-brooz). The early Hebrews
were simple herders, but they developed a culture that became a
major influence on later civilizations.
Most of what is known about early Hebrew history comes from the
work of archaeologists and from accounts written by Hebrew scribes.
These accounts describe the Hebrews’ early history and the laws of their
religion. In time these accounts became the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew
Bible is also part of the Christian Bible, which includes the New
Testament as well. The Bible traces the Hebrews back to a man
named Abraham. One day, the Hebrew Bible says, God told Abraham
to leave his home in Mesopotamia. He was to take his family on a long
journey to the west. God promised to lead Abraham to a new land and
make his descendants into a mighty nation.
Abraham left Mesopotamia and settled in Canaan (KAY-nuhn), on
the Mediterranean Sea. His descendants—the Hebrews—lived in
Canaan for many years. Later, however, some Hebrews moved to
Egypt, perhaps because of famine in Canaan.
: According to the Hebrew Bible, a leader
named Moses appeared among the Hebrews in Egypt. In the
1200s BC, God told Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.
Moses went to the pharaoh and demanded that the Hebrews
be freed. The pharaoh refused. Soon afterward a series of
terrible plagues, or disasters, struck Egypt.
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The plagues frightened the pharaoh so much that he agreed
to free the Hebrews. Overjoyed with the news of their release,
Moses led his people out of Egypt in a journey called the Exodus.
To the Hebrews, the release from slavery proved that God was
protecting and watching over them. They believed that they
had been set free because God loved them.
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The Exodus is a major event in Hebrew history, but other
people recognize its significance as well. Throughout history, for
example, enslaved people have found hope in the story. Before
the Civil War, American slaves sang about Moses to keep their
hopes of freedom alive.
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: (c. 1200s BC) Biblical figure, according
to the Bible, he led the Hebrew people
out of Egypt and back to Canaan in the
Exodus. During this journey, Moses
received the Ten Commandments from
God.
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: in the Bible, a code of moral laws given
to Moses by God; Examples – Do not
steal, Do not commit adultrey
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According to the Bible; David – killed the
Philistine giant Goliath and established
the capital of Israel in Jerusalem;
David’s son, Solomon, took over the
empire and expanded it through trade
making the kingdom rich. Solomon built
god a great temple in Jerusalem.
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After Solomon’s death in about 930 BC, revolts
broke out over who should be king. Within a
year, conflict tore Israel apart. Israel split into
two kingdoms called Israel and called Judah
(JOO-duh). The people of Judah became
known as Jews.
The two new kingdoms lasted for a few
centuries. In the end, however, both were
conquered. Israel fell to the Assyrians around
722 BC. As a result, the kingdom fell apart and
most of its people scattered. Judah lasted
longer, but before long it fell to the Chaldeans.
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: Religion is the foundation upon which the Jews
base their whole society. In fact, much of Jewish
culture is based directly on Jewish beliefs. The central
beliefs of Judaism, the Jewish religion, are beliefs in
God, education, justice, and obedience.
Most importantly, Jews believe in one God. The
Hebrew name for God is YHWH, which is never
pronounced by Jews, as it is considered too holy. The
belief in only one god is called monotheism. Many
people believe that Judaism was the world’s first
monotheistic religion. It is certainly the oldest such
religion that is still widely practiced today.
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According to the Hebrew Bible, when
Moses returned from Mount Sinai, he
found the Hebrews worshipping a statue
of a golden calf. They had become
impatient waiting for Moses and wanted
to worship a god they could see. Moses
was furious that they were worshipping a
statue instead of God. In this Italian
painting from the 1600s, the Hebrews are
destroying the golden calf.
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Using a special pointer called a yad, this girl is reading
aloud from the Torah. The Torah is the most sacred of
Hebrew writings. Jews believe its contents were revealed
to Moses by God. The Torah plays a central role in many
Jewish ceremonies, like this one.
The Hebrew Bible
These beautifully decorated pages are from a Hebrew
Bible. The Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Tanach,
includes the Torah and other ancient writings.
The Commentaries
The Talmud is a collection of laws, commentaries, and
discussions about the Torah and the Hebrew Bible. The
Talmud is a rich source of information for discussion and
debate. Rabbis and religious scholars like these young
men study the Talmud to learn about Jewish history and
laws.
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Besides the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, and the
Commentaries, many other documents also
explain ancient Jewish beliefs. Among the most
important are the Dead Sea Scrolls, writings by
Jews who lived about 2,000 years ago.
Until 1947 no one knew about the Dead Sea
Scrolls. In that year, young boys looking for a
lost goat near the Dead Sea found a small
cave. One of the boys went in to explore and
found several old jars filled with moldy scrolls.
Scholars were very excited about the boy’s
find. Eager to find more scrolls, they began to
search the desert.
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Frustrated by a century of Roman rule,
many Jews rose up in armed rebellion.
Led by the Zealots, they fought furiously
for four years. But the experienced
Roman army crushed the revolt. The
Romans even destroyed the Jews’ holiest
site, the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
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Known as the Diaspora, Jews left to settle in
other parts all over Europe and Northern
Africa. Jews everywhere shared the basic
beliefs of Judaism. For example, all Jews still
believed in one God and tried to obey
God's law as set forth in the sacred texts.
But communities in various parts of the
world had different customs. As a result, the
Jewish communities in different parts of the
world began to develop their own
languages, rituals, and cultures.
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Passover honors the Exodus, one of the
most important events in Hebrew history. In
honor of this event from their past, Jews
share a special meal called a seder. Each
item in the seder symbolizes a part of the
Exodus. For example, bitter herbs represent
the Jews’ bitter years of slavery in Egypt.
Before eating the meal, everyone reads
prayers from a book called the
Haggadah (huh-GAH-duh). It tells the story
of the Exodus and reminds everyone
present of the Jews’ history.